Sightsavers Chooses HUMANAV for its Humanitarian Fleet Tracking
18 July 2022 - Humanitarian & Key accounts
18 July 2022 - Humanitarian & Key accounts
International NGO Sightsavers has chosen CLS’s HUMANAV system for the tracking and management of its humanitarian fleets, as part of its global push to ensure the safety and security of its equipment and personnel.
With over 70 years’ experience in the field, Sightsavers is one of the world’s largest NGOs specializing in eye care, neglected tropical diseases and disability rights, and currently operates in 34 of some of the poorest countries across Africa and South Asia.
This often requires travelling by road to the most remote locations, including regions with security risks such as kidnappings, armed robberies and carjackings. As a result, Sightsavers decided to adopt a fleet tracking service… but not just any service, as their spokesperson explains.
“We wanted a real-time tracker that is perfectly tailored to the needs of NGOs operating in high risk environments. We have over 700 staff and 150 vehicles worldwide, so the chosen system had to be cost effective, easy to install and use, inconspicuous and low maintenance, and HUMANAV is all of those things.”
Sightsavers says that HUMANAV’s Hybrid Tracking System (HTS) in particular was a prerequisite, enabling them to benefit from both the lower cost of cellular networks when in populated areas and the superior coverage of satellites when out of cellular range, with the device switching automatically between the two.
Other aspects of the HUMANAV system and its provider CLS really set them apart from the rest, as Sightsavers goes on to say.
“We operate in a lot of French-speaking countries in West and Central Africa, so the fact that CLS can work effectively in both French and English and already has local partners across this region gives it a clear advantage over other fleet management operators that tend to have a low footprint in Francophone areas.”
“Also, the fact that CLS employs local partners to install and maintain its devices is a major plus, and totally in line with our philosophy of contributing to the local economy and employing local people. Not to mention the fact that it is far more cost effective than flying technicians in from Europe! CLS’ network of local partners also makes it possible to place small orders where required – we don’t have to bulk order each time, which is ideal for us since our footprint varies massively from country to country.”
The first Sightsavers fleet to receive the HUMANAV system is Nigeria – a priority due to the high risk level, long distances and fairly large fleet size: 16 vehicles in all. The new tracking devices were installed in January and feedback so far is extremely positive, as Sightsavers reports.
“Our Nigerian team is finding it a real plus in terms of both ensuring security and saving time. They no longer have to call around all their cars to check their safety and whereabouts and can use that time instead to focus on the mission in hand, which brings a huge amount of added value.”
Sightsavers now plans to have HUMANAV devices installed on its Mali, Burkina Faso and Kenya fleets by the end of the year, before gradually rolling out the system to other operating environments worldwide.
“HUMANAV will shortly become standard equipment for all Sightsavers personnel working in high-risk environments, enabling us to boost safety, make savings and focus exclusively on our operations.”
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